I went to lunch at Reflets for lunch. It has become one of my preferred restaurants in Toulouse. I have made reservations for dinner on my last night in Toulouse there. Most restaurants are not open on Monday but Reflets is so it worked out great for me as I can have dinner at a restaurant I like. It will be a good last memory of this trip to Toulouse.

Lunch was great as usual. For my starter, I had deconstructed French Onion soup. The onions were sliced in half and cooked, then some other grains were added and croutons. It was very good and unusual.

For the main course, I had risotto. It was a mushroom risotto. I have always liked mushrooms but since coming to France I have a new appreciation for the variety and taste of the mushrooms. They cook with many variety of mushrooms – rarely the two we get regularly in the United States – white button and portobellos. There are oyster, shiitake and many others that I really do not recognize. The mushrooms have a very earthly flavor.

The crispy items is tempura kale. I am not a proponent of kale – in fact it is generally on the prefer not to eat list. The tempura kale has somewhat changed my mind about the kale. The kale was tender and has a very crisp flavor. I might have to try to figure out how to make this tempura kale when I get back to Alexandria. I might have to change my mind about kale.

In the evening, I ran with Run in Toulouse. It is my community here in Toulouse. I am beginning to be recognized by others than those I generally talk to which is nice.

The group has changed its format and last night was the first night of this new format. They are offering more than three pace routes and times for running. I think there are now 9 groups all together. Since I am crazy and getting back to liking running, I opted for the one hour, 9:00 minute pace group – choose the slightly slower pace as I had run 10 mile at 8:00 minute pace on Monday. We ended up running faster than the 9:00 minute pace. The pace is always something of a guess as one of the things the group does is run as a group but then let you run as fast as you want for the longer straightaways on the route. I tend to do the “en libre” portions of the run so run a little longer and faster than the set course. When you are on the free run, you run ahead and then turn back and return to the end of the group. This gives you a little more speed and distance for the run. I joke that I am learning how to do a tempo run when running with Run in Toulouse.

My friends Marc (orange) and Elliot (black) making the turn at the end of an en libre to join the group along the banks of the Garonne.

Today was the first colder day in Toulouse since I have been here. I had to wear my jacket for the first time today. It is chilly, not really cold 44s/7s to 50s/10s. The rest of the time I am here looks like it will have the same temperatures. One of the things that I find interesting is that even when it is chilly, the sun seems hot. I am guessing it is the latitude.